Upbeat India prepare for England test

The mood in the Indian camp, on the eve of their quarter-final, was jovial at the picturesque ICC Academy in Dubai, just behind the game's headquarters. The fielding drill looked anything but boring and the players were raring to go. India have proved so far that their showing in the practice games - they lost both the matches - wasn't much to go by, having not dropped a single game in the group stage. Despite those wins, their coach B Arun said the team was yet to peak. He was referring to the top-order batting, which was identified as India's strength before the tournament started but hasn't been consistent.

In their first two games, against Pakistan and Scotland, India were in trouble at 94 for 4 and 19 for 4 respectively and needed rescuing from their lower order. The problem didn't resurface against easier opponents Papua New Guinea, but tougher tests await them in the knockouts. Arun was not too worried about the batting order facing up to England's pace-centric attack.

"Yes it hasn't clicked as we would have expected. In a big tournament there are bound to be butterflies and the over-eagerness to perform also," Arun said. "Now they have kind of settled down and will hopefully peak at the right time."

Sarfaraz Khan has been the revelation in the middle order, as has the understated allrounder Deepak Hooda. Against Scotland, the pair came together after India lost their top five batsmen for 22, making the 89-run target look distant. Together, Sarfaraz and Hooda ensured India did not suffer further losses. Arun denied the perception that the team got carried away against an easier opponent.

"Definitely not complacency," Arun said. "There were maybe one or two good balls, plus a bad decision (referring to Sanju Samson's lbw). In such a situation you don't expect to bat before lunch and suddenly three-four wickets fall. It's a pretty good lesson for us."

The spinners from both sides were more than a handful, with Kuldeep Yadav taking a hat-trick, but Arun said the pitch for the game against Scotland was not the reason for a collapse.

"The devils were not in the pitch. It was in the mind," Arun said. "If you look at Akhil's (Herwadkar) shot, it was a wide ball and he played the cut but got the edge."

England are an unfamiliar opponent for India, for the teams have not played each other between the World Cups. Their last clash was in a one-dayer during the Quadrangular series in Townsville in 2012, which India won by 63 runs.

In this tournament, England have played out a high percentage of dot balls - 178 and 189 against Sri Lanka and New Zealand respectively - and Arun said there were no specific plans to target their weaknesses.

"Every team that plays well normally plays about 55% scoring shots and 45% dots," Arun said. "Sometimes statistics don't tell you anything. We'll just focus on what we need to do and our bowlers to bowl on areas they need to bowl. If we do that, it is about trying to dictate what the batsman should be doing rather than looking at the batsman's strengths."

India made two changes for their match against Papua New Guinea, bringing in Shreyas Iyer and Monu Kumar and the coach said the XI for the quarter-final will be decided after looking at the pitch.

England trained at the Fairgrounds Oval in the Dubai Men's College campus in the afternoon. They, too, could have entered the quarters with a 100%-win record had they not lost a nail-biter against Sri Lanka. Tim Boon, the England coach, said India will be their biggest test yet in playing under pressure.

"Every team now has access to each other's video footage," Boon said. "It's a great learning curve for our boys to see how they play under pressure.

"India have been formidable over the last two seasons in whatever competition they have gone for, however we are focusing our attention in what we do well."

Boon said the high percentage of dot balls in their last two matches wasn't an issue. Against New Zealand, England recovered from a slow 91 for 4 after 30 overs to 229 for 8.

"What I liked about our batting was that we had some wickets till the end," Boon said. "Then, we were able to up the strike-rate at the end. Yes, there were a couple of little learnings in that, but that's the beauty about World Cup cricket - to test yourself against the best young talents in the world."

Bye bye India, see you next time. Atleast India reached till quarters , great achievement. Till then keep malign cricket by dirty money politics. B S Bedi rightly said with money you can buy votes but not winning matches.

Android
on February 22, 2014, 10:00 GMT

spiriwithin.... u are right... population wont make more than 11 but will gave u more options to chose from... abd mind you pakistan is the coubtry who won the away test against the father of cricket England in their first match of first tour... could u please tell me when india won their first away test??? no ok after 30 years of independance.... and after more 30 years the same... so be realistic... and proof yourself big three.... and you are talking about cobtributation... u means if brazil have the best side by far and England hab the best league in thw world of football so they have to decide everybody's future... means if china starts playing cricket then no one can compete him....

Android
on February 22, 2014, 9:52 GMT

Big 3hahaha

Dummy4
on February 22, 2014, 9:41 GMT

Please provide update for other matches on timely basis. There is no commentary on other matches and score updates are delayed

Dummy4
on February 22, 2014, 9:38 GMT

I think team management has doing very wrong, by not sending the inform batsman top of the order, if you will see the avg. no one is having 43 batting career avg. and on the other hand Sarfraz khan is having car. bat. avg 62, he is doing best in whatever limited overs he is getting, this is quarter final and why sarfraz khan was not send up the order, infact in this match he was send one more down position,,, very unjustice, I hope this mistake dosent proof to be costly. Respect the Talent dont play with Country. I hope Team Management is listening...

Android
on February 22, 2014, 9:38 GMT

Sarfaraz again !;Pls Mumbai give him a chance in Ranji .No IPL for him till he's 18-19

Dummy4
on February 22, 2014, 9:36 GMT

I think 221 is a good score in this wicket .... Indians tail ended batted really well . English team can win the game if they keep wickets in hand

spirit
on February 22, 2014, 9:31 GMT

@Adnan Farooqi..india's population may be 1200million but on the field its 11 vs 11,more population wont make an individual a better player,if thats the logic then Pak has more population than the combined Aus,Eng,SA,SL,WI,NZ which means you should have better record than SA and Aus and the best cricketing nation in the world are not which you..so stop trying to put other nation down.And lastly BCCI earns more due to their better marketing and they are not begging from other boards for that.

ESPN
on February 22, 2014, 9:17 GMT

End of another tournament by over hyped Indian. Money can buy votes can't win matches. India's population of 1,200 million is much more then the combined population of rest of cricketing nations.

romi
on February 22, 2014, 8:23 GMT

2 catches and 1 stumping missed against hooda.

ESPN
on February 22, 2014, 13:08 GMT

Bye bye India, see you next time. Atleast India reached till quarters , great achievement. Till then keep malign cricket by dirty money politics. B S Bedi rightly said with money you can buy votes but not winning matches.

Android
on February 22, 2014, 10:00 GMT

spiriwithin.... u are right... population wont make more than 11 but will gave u more options to chose from... abd mind you pakistan is the coubtry who won the away test against the father of cricket England in their first match of first tour... could u please tell me when india won their first away test??? no ok after 30 years of independance.... and after more 30 years the same... so be realistic... and proof yourself big three.... and you are talking about cobtributation... u means if brazil have the best side by far and England hab the best league in thw world of football so they have to decide everybody's future... means if china starts playing cricket then no one can compete him....

Android
on February 22, 2014, 9:52 GMT

Big 3hahaha

Dummy4
on February 22, 2014, 9:41 GMT

Please provide update for other matches on timely basis. There is no commentary on other matches and score updates are delayed

Dummy4
on February 22, 2014, 9:38 GMT

I think team management has doing very wrong, by not sending the inform batsman top of the order, if you will see the avg. no one is having 43 batting career avg. and on the other hand Sarfraz khan is having car. bat. avg 62, he is doing best in whatever limited overs he is getting, this is quarter final and why sarfraz khan was not send up the order, infact in this match he was send one more down position,,, very unjustice, I hope this mistake dosent proof to be costly. Respect the Talent dont play with Country. I hope Team Management is listening...

Android
on February 22, 2014, 9:38 GMT

Sarfaraz again !;Pls Mumbai give him a chance in Ranji .No IPL for him till he's 18-19

Dummy4
on February 22, 2014, 9:36 GMT

I think 221 is a good score in this wicket .... Indians tail ended batted really well . English team can win the game if they keep wickets in hand

spirit
on February 22, 2014, 9:31 GMT

@Adnan Farooqi..india's population may be 1200million but on the field its 11 vs 11,more population wont make an individual a better player,if thats the logic then Pak has more population than the combined Aus,Eng,SA,SL,WI,NZ which means you should have better record than SA and Aus and the best cricketing nation in the world are not which you..so stop trying to put other nation down.And lastly BCCI earns more due to their better marketing and they are not begging from other boards for that.

ESPN
on February 22, 2014, 9:17 GMT

End of another tournament by over hyped Indian. Money can buy votes can't win matches. India's population of 1,200 million is much more then the combined population of rest of cricketing nations.

romi
on February 22, 2014, 8:23 GMT

2 catches and 1 stumping missed against hooda.

Peter
on February 22, 2014, 5:30 GMT

Come on England, Win and bring some pride back to the country

Dummy4
on February 22, 2014, 3:29 GMT

England is one of the best outfits in the tournament with a very accurate pace attack and great fielding.

avinash
on February 22, 2014, 2:19 GMT

Please play sarfraz khan at no 4 or 5 at no 6 he wasn't getting not many balls ,he is in amazing should make full use of it other wise it will hamper our chances to win world cup.

raj
on February 22, 2014, 0:04 GMT

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Safaraz Khan is a special talent. He is only 16 yrs old and performing better than most under 19 yr olds. India should give Safaraz a taste at top level - just to give him a feel of what's required. Last time India gave a 16yr old batsman a taste, we all know what resulted!! Why not try the winning formula again - what have we got to lose!?

Dummy4
on February 21, 2014, 22:53 GMT

England will prevail. Indian team is weak against the pace attack. Even PNG Pace ttck troubled them. England hs much better quality bowlers than Scotland or even Pakistan. Pakistan made a mistake of playing 4 Spinners and Indians are excellent against the Spin attack.

Android
on February 21, 2014, 18:12 GMT

Show to your seniors how to win matches abroad....may be they get inspired by you....All The Best

ESPN
on February 21, 2014, 17:07 GMT

Indian coaches time and time again do great when I see under 19 teams go out. Why do we have to keep hiring foreign coaches for national team?? It's very hard for me to believe that we don't have a better coach in India then Duncan Fletcher who hasn't won a test or too many ODIs away from home. Get rid of him!! Good luck boys!

Kaustav
on February 21, 2014, 17:07 GMT

Vijay Zol needs to start firing. Top order is collapsing too regularly.

Dummy4
on February 21, 2014, 17:02 GMT

The match is going to take place in Dubai, on a pitch that supports spinners and that is where India hold the edge. India has world class spinners, especially Kuldeep Yadav and he can be the one who will turn the match on it's head as he has already shown over the course of the last 2 matches.
I back India to go all the way, and look out for a young Sarfraz Khan and Kuldeep Yadav

Jay
on February 21, 2014, 16:45 GMT

Go well boys. Beat England and bring that win home. God bless !

No featured comments at the moment.

Jay
on February 21, 2014, 16:45 GMT

Go well boys. Beat England and bring that win home. God bless !

Dummy4
on February 21, 2014, 17:02 GMT

The match is going to take place in Dubai, on a pitch that supports spinners and that is where India hold the edge. India has world class spinners, especially Kuldeep Yadav and he can be the one who will turn the match on it's head as he has already shown over the course of the last 2 matches.
I back India to go all the way, and look out for a young Sarfraz Khan and Kuldeep Yadav

Kaustav
on February 21, 2014, 17:07 GMT

Vijay Zol needs to start firing. Top order is collapsing too regularly.

ESPN
on February 21, 2014, 17:07 GMT

Indian coaches time and time again do great when I see under 19 teams go out. Why do we have to keep hiring foreign coaches for national team?? It's very hard for me to believe that we don't have a better coach in India then Duncan Fletcher who hasn't won a test or too many ODIs away from home. Get rid of him!! Good luck boys!

Android
on February 21, 2014, 18:12 GMT

Show to your seniors how to win matches abroad....may be they get inspired by you....All The Best

Dummy4
on February 21, 2014, 22:53 GMT

England will prevail. Indian team is weak against the pace attack. Even PNG Pace ttck troubled them. England hs much better quality bowlers than Scotland or even Pakistan. Pakistan made a mistake of playing 4 Spinners and Indians are excellent against the Spin attack.

raj
on February 22, 2014, 0:04 GMT

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Safaraz Khan is a special talent. He is only 16 yrs old and performing better than most under 19 yr olds. India should give Safaraz a taste at top level - just to give him a feel of what's required. Last time India gave a 16yr old batsman a taste, we all know what resulted!! Why not try the winning formula again - what have we got to lose!?

avinash
on February 22, 2014, 2:19 GMT

Please play sarfraz khan at no 4 or 5 at no 6 he wasn't getting not many balls ,he is in amazing should make full use of it other wise it will hamper our chances to win world cup.

Dummy4
on February 22, 2014, 3:29 GMT

England is one of the best outfits in the tournament with a very accurate pace attack and great fielding.

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